Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Service Leadership Subject for University Students

Because of the changing requirements in the service economy, there is a great need to nurture university students into effective service leaders who possess not only leadership competencies in different aspects but also caring and character attributes. Grounded on the Service Leadership Theory proposed by Po Chung, Co-Founder of DHL International, a credit-bearing subject entitled “Service Leadership” and non-credit-bearing training programs were developed at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). Such Service Leadership education cultivates the belief that “Everyone is (can be) a leader” in students and emphasizes the importance of leadership qualities in the service economy, including competence, character, and care. Findings from different evaluation approaches have shown that the Service Leadership education has been well received by students, who rated the program content, teacher(s), and the gains from participation positively and exhibited significant positive changes in Service Leadership qualities and well-being. To document the development and achievement of Service Leadership education and to further promote it in and out of Hong Kong, journal articles, book chapters, and special issues on theoretical understanding, curriculum development, and evaluation findings have been published. In addition, two international conferences have been organized to exchange experiences and insights. Future directions include more effects in conducting comprehensive evaluations, teacher training, and project extension.